Otherwise
I got out of bed on two strong legs.
It might have been otherwise.
I ate cereal, sweetmilk, ripe, flawless
peach. It might have been otherwise.
I took the dog uphill to the birch wood.
All morning I did the work I love.
At noon I lay down with my mate.
It might have been otherwise.
We ate dinner together at a table with silver
candlesticks. It might have been otherwise.
I slept in a bed in a room with paintings
on the walls, and planned another day
just like this day.
But one day, I know, it will be otherwise.
Jane Kenyon wrote this poem, “Otherwise,” when she was 47 years old and Poet Laureate of New Hampshire. She was also dying of Leukemia. Poets, psalmists, and musicians encourage us to celebrate and praise the preciousness of life. Like Kenyon, they remind us that given life’s impermanence, we should celebrate the sanctity of living. Kenyon’s poignant tribute to gratitude—in which she describes with unadorned truth the simple pleasures of a given day—inspires us to keep living, loving, and contemplating not what might have been otherwise, but what is.
As we anticipate family weekend, I asked my class to share what they value about family. In response, they described the importance of the support, love, and comfort family provides. Like Kenyon, they often named the simple activities—conversation around the dinner table, gatherings of friends and family at a cookout—as things they miss and look forward to over their breaks. As we look forward to a brief respite this weekend, may we all take the time to take part in and contemplate those pleasures that sustain and nourish our bodies and spirits, bearing in mind the preciousness of life.
